Statistician ranks as best job of 2017

Something for the weekend: Employees looking to calculate their next job move might want to consider the career path of the statistician. Research by Careercast reveals that maths takes centre stage in the best jobs of 2017 list.

The US-based research, which evaluates income, growth outlook, stress and environmental factors, found that statistician ranks in poll position in the best jobs list, with a median salary of $80,110 (£62,109). This is closely followed by medical services manager in second place, and operations research analyst in third.

The top 10 jobs of 2017, according to Careercast’s analysis of 200 jobs across a variety of sectors, are largely in the STEM subjects of science, maths, engineering and technology. For example, information security analyst comes in at fourth place, and data scientist ranks fifth.

In comparison, the two lowest-ranking jobs of 2017 are newspaper reporter and broadcaster due to the high levels of stress and scrutiny involved with these positions. Meanwhile, low wages and a low hiring outlook as a result of radio station consolidation and computerised playlists, land DJs in the top 10 worst jobs list for 2017.

The median salary for newspaper reporters is $37,820 (£29,325), while the median salary for DJs is $30,830 (£23,912).

Other jobs that feature at the bottom of the list include advertising salesperson, firefighters, military personnel, pest control staff, loggers, retail salesperson and taxi driver.

Here at Employee Benefits, we find it very disheartening that our fellow journalists rank so low in the list; from our perspective, we certainly prefer words to numbers. Although our fear of creepy crawlies certainly contributes to why pest control ranks nearer the bottom of the list…